The Hoarder of Beauty

It was a hard weekend. It felt like I didn't know which way to look first - spending time with my boys, getting caught up on work, working on my own projects...

Finally, on Sunday, I decided to sit down and finish photographing the steps and assemble the Hoarder of Beauty:

And here it is! Each little individual component made with gumdrops and druks (never, ever underestimate the power of the druk), with a lovely embellished centerpiece and a handmade toggle clasp.

Now, under the category of Things I Learned While Making This Necklace, I can list two things.

The first, is the embellished centerpiece. Once I had the center units all joined together, I didn't like the big, empty hole in the middle. So, I filled it in.

 While I was filling it in, it occurred to me that the techniques I was using could also be used to create a bracelet or a whole new component.

Thankfully, I have lots of gumdrops and druks in my stash (and more on the way) with which I can experiment...

The second thing that I learned is all about the clasp. I wanted to make a clasp that complemented the gumdrop and druk units without being too ornate, and I certainly didn't want to use a pre-made clasp for this piece. I played with some peyote stitch for a bit, mimicking the first few rounds of the gumdrop/druk units, and came up with an easy and fast toggle loop.

I'm not going to pretend that I'm the first person to come up with this kind of peyote stitch loop, but it's intriguing. It could easily be turned into a whole new component with some extra embellishments, in new colors, in a larger size.

So, yes, in all my spare time, once I finish the tutorial instructions, I'll be experimenting with these two new ideas.

In addition to all the other ideas and deadlines bouncing around in my head, I think I came up with my idea for my Battle of the Beadsmith piece. Yes, I've entered again for 2013, and I've even been assigned a partner for the first battle already! The idea for this one is a little unexpected for me...but now comes the sketching, the stitching experiments to see if it will actually work, and the ordering of about a hundred dollars' worth of metallic seed beads. Fun times.